City Planning Commission will review plans to approve a new zone from R1-2 to R6A with commercial overlay in order to allow two buildings (8-story, 5 story) to be built at the corner of Douglaston Parkway and Northern Blvd (Block 8092 and Lots 5 & 39, portions of Lots 205, 25, 28 & 33).

We the undersigned residents and community members of Little Neck, Douglaston, and the surrounding areas are opposed to this planned rezoning.

Parking in the area is already extremely inadequate. Cars are constantly double parked on Douglaston Parkway and making illegal U-turns, creating dangerous traffic conditions at busy times.

Traffic in the area was already exacerbated by the removal of the parking lane on Northern Blvd and the installation of the bike lane. There have been at least 13 accidents since the bike lanes were installed this year, including one involving a school bus. It can only get worse as delays along Northern Blvd already start far beyond the proposed intersection, beginning in Bayside and reaching Great Neck. The Lowes that will open in Douglaston Plaza in mid 2019 will further add to the traffic burden along Douglaston Parkway and at this particular intersection, which is the main artery to the LIRR station to the north. Northern Blvd is a main east-west artery and this intersection is one intersection away from the access point for the Cross Island Parkway. Inadequate parking for this project and the presence of the bike lanes would result in double parking and could reduce traffic on this major artery to a single lane. The traffic density make this site unsuitable for senior housing and the addition of Access-a-ride vans further blocking off the streets would not help either.

The increase in residents brought about by two new residential buildings would greatly exacerbate both the parking and traffic issue. The area is home to four schools - we do not want to see more angry and aggressive drivers on our roads.

Lastly, increase in congestion from this residential development along with the already mentioned changes will be detrimental to the quality of life of all the residents in the surrounding area. Despite the presence of Northern Blvd, the area is residential in nature. The proposed buildings are out of character with the existing neighborhood - casting big shadows as they are planned to the lot lines with no setbacks, and significantly reducing sunlight to the greenery in the adjoining Alley Pond Environmental Area. A change in zoning here would pave the way to open other areas in Queens to over-development as well. Please preserve the quiet nature of our neighborhoods!

We respectfully ask that the Queens Community Board, Melinda Katz and our elected representatives and the City Planning Commission take these issues into consideration and vote AGAINST ULURP #C060432ZMQ and ULURP #N180281ZRQ - Douglaston Parkway Rezoning. Save our neighborhoods from over-development!